Art Attack in Mexico City

Tuesday January 26. Today we took the bus into Mexico City to visit museums. The bus and subway were easy: we were very glad not to be driving! The subway is also clean, and some of the tunnels have exhibits. The long Tunnel of Science had an excellent exhibit on the history of the earth and then one on astronomy. Our favorite part was lit only by black lights with a star chart on the ceiling. At 5 pesos—less than 30 cents—it was the cheapest museum we visited.

   We started with the Museum of Modern Art. In addition to the permanent collection which was  
fabulous, there was a special exhibit on the life and work of photographer Lee Miller, best known both as a surrealist and also as a WWII war correspondent for Vogue. After lunch and a tour of the sculpture garden we visited the Rubino Tamayo Museum where we were awed by a retrospective on the work of Leon Golub, a highly political figurative painter. His bold strokes and stark images of military and police violence were a political statement on our times. Finally we went to the National Museum of Anthropology and its massive collection on Mesoamerica. While Mike admired the pre-Hispanic art, Sharman was reading up on pre-Columbian history. There was a complicated, continuously evolving patchwork of culture groups in Mezoamerica, with constant interchange through trade and warfare. The three most historically significant groups were the Mexicas (also known as Aztecs), the Mayas and the Teotihuacanos. The Teotihuacanos had the most advanced engineering of their time (100 BC-550 AD) and the other groups borrowed from them. The Mayans had the most advanced writing, number system and calendar. The Mexicas were the greatest warriors.   

Wednesday January 27. Another venture into the city to visit museums. First we went to the Diego Rivera Museum of Mural Art. The featured exhibit was the work of Pablo O’Higgins, a Mexican transplant from Salt Lake City. He was a passionate visual advocate for the common people and regional cultures throughout Mexico. Then we immersed ourselves in the Palace of Fine Arts—a glorious art nouveau edifice with a permanent collection of all the great muralists adorning the central atrium. The featured exhibition was the vanguard art movement in Russia, 1910-1932, including painting, posters, architecture, porcelain, theater design, and music. The best known include Kandinski, Malevich, Eisenstein, Rodchenko and Scriabin.

   Mexico City is full of impressive architecture, sculpture, murals and gardens in public spaces. It is probably the premier public art city in all of the Americas. Even the central post office (Palacio de Correios) is magnificent. I will eventually post a tour of Mexico’s art curated by Michael Samoya on our web album.